Notes on Islam Part 2

I. What do I mean by religion?

II. What is true Islam?

III. Why is it the best religion?

I.--_Religion, G.o.d and Nature._

_Religion._--No thinking man can help asking himself the questions: "Whence has this world come? Whither is it bound to go?" in other words, "What was the _origin_ ([Arabic: mabda]) and what will be the _end_ ([Arabic: ma'ad]) of the world of men, animals, plants and things that I perceive?" The answers which each man gives to these questions const.i.tute his _religion_. A few earnest persons (poets, philosophers and theologians) try to answer these questions for themselves by patient study and earnest thought[13]. But a large majority of men and women merely take the answers taught them by their parents, teachers or priests. There may possibly be a small number of men who do not trouble themselves about these questions. These are not "thinking men" and may therefore be left out of account.

Religion is a silent and subtle power that works in the heart of man and makes for righteousness. It is generated by his conviction as to the beginning and end of himself and the world in which he lives and moves[14].

_G.o.d._--No intelligent and intelligible answers can be given to questions as to the origin and the end or the government of _Nature_[15]

without a.s.suming the existence of the _One and only one G.o.d_ who is _Infinite_ and _Absolute_, _i.e._, One who hath neither beginning nor end and who is not conditioned or limited by anything whatever[16]. The Infinite and Absolute One has been called by different names by different people at different times[17]. Yezdan, Ishwara, Jehovah, G.o.d, and Allah are the names, in different languages, of the same _Infinite and Absolute G.o.d_.

G.o.d of the Granite and the Rose Soul of the Sparrow and the Bee!

The mighty tide of being flows Through countless channels, Lord, from Thee.

*_Conceptions of G.o.d, His attributes, and His relation to Nature._--These have been and will ever be many and various. But I summarise three princ.i.p.al conceptions under each head, for I believe that other ideas, notions or conceptions are but combinations of two or more of these:--

I. Conceptions of G.o.d:--

1. G.o.d as the Ultimate _Law_.

2. G.o.d as the Omnipotent Energy or _Power_.

3. G.o.d as the Supreme Being or _Person[18]_.

II. Notions of G.o.d's princ.i.p.al attributes:--

1. G.o.d as Creator or Nourisher.

2. G.o.d as Preserver or Protector.

3. G.o.d as Adjuster or Judge[18].

[*] _Paragraphs marked with asterisks and their footnotes may be omitted at the first reading._

III. Ideas of G.o.d's relation with Nature[20] (_i.e._, with the world of men, animals, plants and other objects, and their inter-relations, of which men are aware):--

1. All is _from_ G.o.d = G.o.d is _above_ Nature which He created and governs (Theism).

2. G.o.d is _in_ All = G.o.d is _in_ Nature although Nature is not G.o.d (Panentheism).

3. G.o.d _is_ All = G.o.d _is_ Nature and Nature is G.o.d (Pantheism)[21].

* The above is but a rough summary. I have neither time nor s.p.a.ce to explain and ill.u.s.trate it. I have ventured to give some hints--imperfect hints, I fear--in the footnotes. I may however state here that, of the above three conceptions, notions or ideas Islam accepts the medium or the middle one which, as a little thought will show, includes the other two conceptions also. You need not at present try to understand the summary or the words given in brackets. My subsequent Notes will explain it to some extent. Please remember that there are many men and many minds, and that there are likely to be as many religions, as many conceptions of G.o.d, as many notions of His attributes, and as many ideas of the beginning or end of things, ([Arabic: mabda' wa ma'ad]) as there are _thinking_ minds[22].

Let me conclude this Note with a short answer to the question why religion is necessary to Man[23]. No society is possible without religion, because of the dual nature of Man. As our poet says, [Persian: ba bahaa'm bahra dari ba malaa'ik neez ham] and as all modern men of science (such as Sir Oliver Lodge and others) admit, there is a higher and a lower in every man's nature, the one lifts him up and the other pulls him down in the scale of animal and social existence. Religion is necessary in order that every man's higher nature may conquer his lower nature in order that he may become a social being who is virtuous and does good of his own accord, and may not remain a mere beast whom the whip alone prevents from doing mischief. It is religion that fosters high-thinking and holy-living, so necessary for the advancement of the human race.

+Note 4.+

II.--_What is true Islam?_

The answer to this question is contained within the four corners, as it were, of the Opening Sura[24] [Arabic: Sura al-fati?a] which is a general summary of the whole Qur'an. I have already a.n.a.lysed it and asked you to compare it with the Christian prayer called the Lord's prayer. I am sure you have noted and admired its simplicity and clearness and its almost scientific precision and comprehensiveness. I am only amplifying what I have already said when I say that the Sura teaches three cardinal and eternal truths:--

_1st._--There is but One G.o.d who has created the worlds, maintains them, and rules them. In the inimitable words of the Sura of Purity.

[Arabic: Sura al-?i?la?]

[Arabic: qul huwa llahu ?a?ad] Say, G.o.d is one. } = One.

[Arabic: allahu ?-?amad] G.o.d is Eternal. } = Infinite.

[Arabic: lam yalid] He does not beget } [Arabic: wa-lam yulad] nor is He begotten. } = Absolute.[25]

[Arabic: wa-lam yakun lahu kufuwan a?ad] } and He hath no kith or kin. }

_2ndly._--(_a_) G.o.d being our Creator, we have to _wors.h.i.+p_, adore and love Him and Him alone. This is the duty we owe to G.o.d. (_b_) Again, G.o.d being our merciful Preserver, we have to seek the protection of Him and Him alone. This is the duty we owe to ourselves. (_c_) Finally, G.o.d being our Judge or Ruler, we have to solicit guidance of Him and Him alone. This is the duty we owe to our fellow-creatures (including lower animals) in the world we live in.

You must not fall into the error of believing that G.o.d is Creator at one time or place, that He is Maintainer or Preserver at another time or place, and that He is Judge or Ruler at a third time or place. No, no; He, being the One and only G.o.d, is all the three together, Creator, Preserver and Ruler, at all times and in all places. It is we who, in order to understand Him properly and adore Him rightly, separate in our minds His three princ.i.p.al attributes, and think of Him as our Creator _when_ we wors.h.i.+p Him, think of Him as our Preserver _when_ we seek His protection, and think of Him as our Ruler or Judge _when_ we solicit His guidance. It is only we, finite and conditioned creatures, that are tied down to and limited by time, place and circ.u.mstances. To G.o.d there are none such. He is the One Infinite and Absolute, the One who hath neither beginning nor end--the One who is absolutely unlimited and unconditioned by time, place, circ.u.mstances, or anything else. This is the Islamic conception or idea of G.o.d.

_3rdly_.--What does the Sura teach us as to the guidance which we have to ask of G.o.d in our dealings with our fellow-creatures? It is guidance into the straight path. What is the straight path? It is the path of righteousness or the path of _Grace_ which is between two extremes, the path of _Sin_ and the path of _Error_. A Muslim's right path, _i.e._, his right course of conduct, lies between two extreme paths or courses of conduct, _viz._, on the one hand, the path of those who sin, who knowingly and deliberately go against the will of G.o.d, which is manifest in Nature, and on the other hand, the path of those who unwittingly, through ignorance, go against His will. The right path lies thus:--

_Path of Sin_ } _Path of Grace_ { _Path of Error_ } { which leads } which leads to { which leads to to ruin or } eternal bliss. { confusion worse destruction. } { confounded.

You thus see that _true_ Islam consists in a threefold duty to G.o.d, to oneself, and to others, and this duty is to be discharged by simply adopting, under G.o.d's guidance, _the mean between two extremes_. As our Prophet has pithily expressed it [Arabic: khair ul umoor-e ausatiha], "the best of things is the medium thing." This is the fundamental principle which underlies everything which is Islamic or Muslim.[26]

Please remember it, as also the three-fold Islamic Duty:--

(_a_) Duty to G.o.d, which is Wors.h.i.+p or Adoration implying, as it does, complete submission to His will = [Arabic: islam]

(_b_) Duty to yourself, which is self-preservation or self-perfection = [Arabic: Aslam]

(_c_) Duty to others, which is peace and good will towards them = [Arabic: islam]

"Islam"[27] as a religion means nothing more nor less than those three duties.

Islam is not Philosophy, much less is it Science. It is but a Religion, _an att.i.tude of man's mind towards his environment_--the att.i.tude of self towards others and G.o.d. Both Philosophy and Science influence one's att.i.tude of mind. To that extent Islam has to reckon with both. It is therefore that Sufis and other philosophic sects have risen in Islam from time to time. The sphere of Islam is Faith manifesting itself in good works; and the spheres of Science and Philosophy are Knowledge and Reason. The latter often come into contact with the former, but can never be identified with it.

+Note 5.+

_What is not Islam._

In my previous Note I tried to sketch briefly what is true Islam. I now offer a few observations on, or ill.u.s.trations of, what is _not_ Islam.